Tag: wordpress comments

With over 600 million users, WeChat is the most popular messaging app in China. Voice messaging is extremely popular in China, so popular that over 84% of WeChat users use it for voice messaging. And while in most other countries text remains ahead of voice, in China, a voice is the clear market leader.

There are several added values to sending a voice message over text. It’s more personal, more authentic, you can flirt more easily or express how annoyed or bored or tired you are. There are no autocorrect embarrassments since you can delete the recording if you aren’t happy with it, and you can play the messages over and over again. Voice also allows for a clearer understanding of messages thanks to the intonations we use naturally while speaking and ultimately allows for better quality conversations. And finally, voice messages allow you to go hands-free and even help you save time.

Voice takes over China

So, what makes voice work so well in China? Most Chinese people would probably say it’s because the language is much harder to type than speak and therefore simply takes longer to type than record a message. In China, rather than typing words users are most likely to type the letters that approximate the sound of the correct ideogram. WeChat (or whatever app is being used) will then offer a list of ideograms that pop up. Once that happens, the user needs to choose the correct one to describe what they want to say most accurately, both in meaning and in pronunciation. Though faster than hand writing, this is clearly still very time-consuming.

Another reason voice works so well is down to Chinese culture. The Chinese often describe their culture as “renao” or what foreigners would refer to as “loud and lively”, and this makes it acceptable to be enthusiastic about being loud in public, making voice messages a culturally acceptable and convenient way to communicate. And just like there are informal rules for texting, the same goes for voice messages with known do’s and don’ts, which are influenced by factors such as if the user has an educational background or not. For example, a well-educated or middle-class individual will send voice messages only if the information is too complicated to write or explain via text. If it’s simple enough, they’ll prefer to type it. And voice messages are not suitable to send to everyone; they are a personal and emotional medium and because of this, some people think they should only be used with close friends and loved ones.

Voice today

In an increasingly networked world where smartphones rule the world and social connections are a necessity, it makes sense to rely on voice tools. They can help people communicate from across the globe while still keeping the intimacy and human connection with friends and family intact, even if they are thousands of kilometers apart. And if you have a blog or online store, voice can help tools can help take your content to the next level.

Heyoya brings voice to your website

Choose voice and add Heyoya to your site to create a more engaging user experience. We already know that voice is popular in China, that it is time saving, efficient and personal. If you have an existing blog or website then you probably know how important comments are. Enabling user comments through comment platforms helps retain users and improves your search ranking. In fact, user-generated content is one of the best ways to market and grow your business. The thing is, the majority of comments still use text. Luckily, with Heyoya you can now recreate the personal interactions of voice messages and WeChat style conversations on your own blog or website. Heyoya is a unique voice comments and reviews platform that brings sound to online interactions, making comments and reviews more trustworthy, engaging and fun. Adding audio to online communications brings together the fast-paced world of social media with the unique feeling of being face-to-face. And best of all, Heyoya can help you create results in China by significantly improving user-generated content, and increasing web traffic, sales conversions and brand affinity.

So how does it work?

It’s actually pretty simple: when surfing the web, users can respond to your articles, events and more by recording a voice comment or review through the Heyoya widget. You can also use Heyoya to upload your own voice content to your website. This is a great way to leave messages for your users, talk to them and hear what they have to say! Ultimately, by using the Heyoya widget, you can better leverage your comments sections to increase user engagement and create higher quality content, keeping users on your site for longer.

Heyoya is a game-changing comments and reviews platform that brings voice to e-publishers and e-stores, improving sales and user engagement by allowing readers to express themselves beyond the medium of text. Heyoya’s new Receiver plan allows for quick and easy below-the-fold monetization. Heyoya is a game changer for websites and is proven to increase brand affinity and the quality of user-generated content.

For more information about Heyoya, or to start using Heyoya’s Receiver plan and start earning money today, click here.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is more important than ever and it is a crucial tool to leverage in order to help a business succeed. While there are many different marketing channels a company can choose, and multiple digital channels, SEO in many ways remains the foundation of a solid online presence. SEO has changed over the past few years but it isn’t going away anytime soon, so we’ve collected a few tips to make sure you make the best of it in 2017.

It’s time you invest more time on the content of your website. Research shows that relevant content is the most effective SEO tactic but it is also the most difficult to execute. Content that is interesting, engaging or fun to read is not longer enough, your content needs to be relevant and above all else, it must create value for your customers. If users find your content relevant and gain value from it, they’ll want to share it, and when they do your content will be seen on additional platforms, helping to drive more traffic to your website.

People like to share stories and information they like and trust, they share to get a word out about a cause or brand they care about, and they share in order to add value. 49% of consumers say that sharing allows them to inform others about products they care about and can encourage action or changing an opinion. Web content needs to be unique enough to make people want to share and talk about it. There are many ways to do this including creating a more personal tone and experience both through the type of stories shared and through the channels you choose to use (just think about how video and audio can help bring a more personal and trustworthy feel to your website compared to text alone).

We see. We click. We comment.

The main goal for any business is to attract users. According to Forrester, 93% of online experiences start with a search. The majority of search engine users are more likely to click one of the top 5 suggestions in the results page. This makes it all the more important to have effective SEO to optimize your website ranking and attract more customers.

Another way to raise your ranking by having the users leave comments. The more high-quality comments you have the more you will improve the ranking of your content. Leaving comments involves time and effort so it’s very important to make sure your comment platform has a seamless UX. A great alternative for comments is to try voice comments, this helps save users time and even go hands-free, while still being able to share their opinion. Using voice reviews can allow for a new kind of interaction as well as motivating the user to share what they think about products with their friends, once again spreading the word about the website and bringing attention to it. This is a win-win situation for the user and the website.

Heyoya is a game-changing comments and reviews platform that brings voice to e-publishers and e-stores, improving sales and user engagement by allowing readers to express themselves beyond the medium of text. Heyoya’s new Receiver plan allows for quick and easy below-the-fold monetization. Heyoya is a game changer for websites and is proven to increase brand affinity and the quality of user-generated content.

The biggest friction point (58% of consumers agree) is when you think you’re buying a product for a certain price but when you reach the checkout point, the shipping and VAT kick in and suddenly your purchase is much more expensive than what you intended. This relates to the issue of trust. More money equals more anxiety and anxiety equals mistrust, friction and cart abandonment. So, how do we fix this? Simple. Write the total amount from the start or as early in the process as possible! Consumers prefer honesty than to think they’ve been tricked into choosing a specific product.

Security is key

Anxiety, which leads to friction points, can be caused by several reasons; the shoppers don’t have a sense of security, they may not be receiving enough information or perhaps it’s just because the UX isn’t smooth enough and makes them feel edgy. Let’s take a moment to talk about security. For example, consumers will feel more secure if the payment is done through a company they know and trust such as Paypal (and while you’re at it, add a few more options), as opposed to writing in their card details and hoping the site is secure. Focusing on communicating how secure your checkout is, is crucial. Besides using Paypal, another way to instill trust is to add a Google certified shop badge. This way an e-commerce merchant endorsement that shows that Google “identifies and stands behind stores that provide a consistently great shopping experience” and we all (well most of us) trust Google.

It’s all about timing

Here’s another little tip, at the checkout point, add a phone number to contact. You’ll be surprised how many buyers, especially new ones, have questions at checkout and if you’ll be available you just might be sidestepping another friction point and saving a lot of potential cart abandonments. Though having a live person available would be the optimal situation, it’s not always possible. Thankfully, a trend that will be growing strong this year are the chatbots, and when placed strategically at checkout they can offer the consumers the answers they need, reassuring the customer that he or she can trust the process.

Reviews everywhere

Another way to ensure trust is reviews. Sometimes on websites, users may be skeptical as to whether the reviews are real as are the users writing them. If all reviews are superb it also may cause mistrust as opposed to if there is a healthy mix of reviews with mostly satisfied customers while still having a few that were less so. Using voice in reviews can make them much more trustworthy since the consumer gets a real sense of the buyer’s opinions. Credibility is key and that’s why a lot of companies display the reviews in a central location on the home page as well as the specific product page. Another tip is to have the reviews in the checkout section as well. This way there is direct context and positive reviews to give them the boost to checkout. If you’re missing any of the above on your website, you’ve got some work to do.

Heyoya is a game-changing comments and reviews platform that brings voice to e-publishers and e-stores, improving sales and user engagement by allowing readers to express themselves beyond the medium of text. Heyoya’s new Receiver plan allows for quick and easy below-the-fold monetization. Heyoya is a game changer for websites and is proven to increase brand affinity and the quality of user-generated content.

For more information about Heyoya, or to start using Heyoya’s Receiver plan and start earning money today, click here.

As the steady growth of e-commerce continues, the importance of online shops and taking advantage of new trends is a key. Some of the trends below began in 2016 while others are just emerging this year with a bright future ahead of them. From content to AI, we’ll talk a little about some of the biggest trends why you should get up to speed.

Nearly 70% of Americans shop online regularly and sales online are continuously increasing. In order for a store to remain successful, it has to have an online presence. But presence isn’t enough, you need to be unique, eye-catching, original and create a buzz. The consumer needs to feel that their experience of your website is no ordinary thing. One way to do this is to ensure that the consumer will receive recommendations in real time based on market trends, past purchases, brand interactions, and demographics.

A great example of offering users a special experience can be seen on the L’Oréal Paris website. The website and a mobile friendly version of it, allows consumers to “try on’ makeup. This allows potential buyers to play around and try on different shades while the company collects information about the individual’s interests, leading to ultra-personalization. This can also be a great opportunity to offer customized coupons which have a major influence on the purchasing decision.

It’s all about the consumer

Some experts say that 2017 is the year of the customer experience. Even though mobile-commerce is increasing, at the end of the day, consumers still prefer to do most of their shopping from their desktop. They will still search through their phone but the final transaction, especially when it’s a large purchase, will probably be done through a bigger screen. It’s therefore extremely important to have a seamless transition between all the various channels. Impulse purchases should be made to fit mobile-commerce (such as buying tickets to the movies or booking a restaurant) since it turns out users check their phone over 100 times a day in order to search for items or information.

In order to keep the process smooth and the consumer happy, experts recommend that businesses adopt some of the tools that search engines have perfected and that users enjoy, such as making sure your content is rich, meaning it includes pictures, videos, voice reviews, etc. There should be an option for auto completion in the search tab and smarter search filters. The website should be location based and have a clear division into categories. Another important aspect is to have a tolerance for misspellings as people often misspell things when they are searching (and especially if they are in a hurry or multitasking).

It’s all about saving time

When shopping in a physical store one of the biggest bonuses is being able to take home what you purchased immediately. You know what they say; “time is money”. This year we’ll be seeing a lot more same day deliveries. It’s still a cost issue, as same day delivery is obviously more expensive but companies are starting to take initiative in order to reach higher customer satisfaction. Until a solution is found another option now given is drop off points at stores near the customer’s home, that way they can still have the same day delivery while saving on delivery costs.

It’s all about AI

As important as personalization is, true personalization is unfortunately not possible but this year businesses will try to achieve it chatbots and other technologies. So, what are chatbots? Chatbots are one of the most important breakthroughs in marketing technology, and although they’ve been around since 2016 they are really gaining traction this year. They impersonate people and communicate directly with buyers. For now, they are still referred to as messaging bots as talking to them is done through messaging apps. Once these chatbots move into more personal elements such as voice, we will have reached a new and more personalized level of communication and from there the options are endless.

It’s all about you

E-commerce has always been focused on the consumer but it seems that this year it’s set a new standard. From personalization to content, to the illusion of a human representative through chatbots, videos and unique websites, seamless transactions and saving time, most trends revolve around making the consumer feel special and comfortable. Finding the right balance between personalization and uniqueness will take extra thought on behalf of the business. Whether it’s an interactive video, a chatbot to imitate a personal connection and using the element of voice to create personalization, trying new technologies and ways to improve the customer experience will ultimately improve your online store.

Heyoya is a game-changing comments and reviews platform that brings voice to e-publishers and e-stores, improving sales and user engagement by allowing readers to express themselves beyond the medium of text. Heyoya’s new Receiver plan allows for quick and easy below-the-fold monetization. Heyoya is a game changer for websites and is proven to increase brand affinity and the quality of user-generated content.

So why is feedback so important? Let’s take customer feedback as an example, meaning the buyer’s reaction to a company product. If the customer isn’t happy with the product he or she will leave negative feedback, usually in the form of a review, which can damage the reputation of the company or reduce sales on a particular product or service (just think of all the examples of bad reviews going viral). But if the company utilizes the feedback and learns from it, they have the potential to improve what they do, incentivizing more customers to buy and ultimately creating a higher level of satisfaction. High levels of customer satisfaction are strong predictors of customer loyalty and product purchase. So the trick is to turn the challenge of a bad review into the opportunity to learn and to improve. For this reason, a lot of companies and services ask for feedback. You’ve probably seen signs or messages such as: Rate our service! Your feedback matters! How satisfied are you with…..? When should we send you emails? etc. Feedback is effective listening and is a great way for businesses and individuals alike to enhance and improve performance.

Voice vs. written feedback

Feedback is also crucial in the field of education. Several researchers have found that the conventional way of writing feedback is not very effective and that most of the time teachers’ comments hardly make an impact. Most students don’t read the feedback thoroughly and those who do, often misinterpret it. Over the past few years, more and more teachers and institutes have been using voice as a channel for feedback. Through voice, teachers can emphasize the correct words, convey their tone accordingly and clearly state what needs to be changed or fixed. Teachers can also provide more context in less time and this is without a doubt much more efficient; in one minute a teacher can say 4 times as many words as they can write. Voice feedback allows for students to feel as though the teacher is literally talking to them, making the experience a more personal one and helping the students feel more involved in class.

Voice recognition software also makes life easier for the teachers, allowing them to easily create online lessons and video tutorials while enabling the students to obtain necessary knowledge quickly and effectively. Combining the verbal feedback with visual elements of the students work during the feedback process allows the students to receive a more complete and clear understanding and with that a better result for their final work.

Feedback is more effective with voice

Overall, a voice is a much more personal way of delivering feedback, whether it is from teachers to students or for online product reviews. At the end of the day, regardless of the field, feedback is all about trust, and voice helps to create trust much more freely and easily than other forms of media such as text or graphics. Ultimately voice can allow for a clearer understanding of a subject or product and a much higher level of customer satisfaction.

Heyoya is a game-changing comments and reviews platform that brings voice to e-publishers and e-stores, improving sales and user engagement by allowing readers to express themselves beyond the medium of text. Heyoya’s new Receiver plan allows for quick and easy below-the-fold monetization. Heyoya is a game changer for websites and is proven to increase brand affinity and the quality of user-generated content.

You’ve probably had to deal with customer service at some point in your life. It may have been for a personal purchase, a gift that didn’t turn out quite right, or a business service. According to a recent survey, about 88 percent of people deal with customer service in one way or another over the course of a year. There have been a lot of innovations in the field over time, and it may seem that customer service is progressing and in fact, evolving. Years ago, customer service was entirely limited to actual phone conversations, today you can resolve issues through messaging services and apps across a range of devices. New technologies like AR and VR open up even more possibilities for customer service.

Isolated portrait of a beautiful helpdesk or support line operator answering a call.

Given how much technology has moved forward in the last few decades, you might expect to see a similar leap in terms of consumers’ satisfaction with customer service experiences. Yet this doesn’t seem to be the case. It turns out that today’s consumers are exactly as unsatisfied with customer service as they were back in the 70s. All the amazing new apps, cool platforms and new hardware devices have done nothing to change the statistics in the past few decades. Today, 56% of customers are walking away from customer service without having their complaint fully resolved. This is an enormous number, and if we look at the other 54%, not all of them are fully satisfied either. Only about 22% of customers finish a customer service interaction feeling fully satisfied. This is a small fraction of the total number of consumers using customer services at any time.

Looking for a personal connection

People often ask whether humanity has evolved over the ages. If we look back to the 19th, 18th, 17th centuries or even further than that we see a lot fewer technologies but we are unable to answer the question of whether humanity as a species has changed its nature beyond superficial technological advances. In many ways when we read texts from older time periods, humanity, or at least human nature, looks almost identical. This is relevant to customer service. While the technologies have changed, the actual need of the consumer has not. Customers want a personal connection, even with just one individual. They want to be listened to and they want some kind of solution. Whether you are using advanced VR imaging techniques or a humble phone call, customers are basically all looking for the same thing: a personal connection.

Automation eliminates empathy

One of the innovations within the customer service sphere has been automation. This is great for time and cost saving reasons; it’s so much faster and efficient than any human. However, technology often removes the main thing customers are looking for: empathy. Too much automation can lead to feelings of frustration because ultimately there is no one at the other end who really understands your problem, there is a just a bot with a limited number of possible responses.

Bringing back voice

However great and easy to use new modes of technology are, it turns out nothing beats voice when it comes to customer service. Of course, satisfaction rates aren’t 100% when talking to another person about your problem but they are much higher than when using other technologies, and especially compared to automated services. More than anything else, voice allows customers to connect with another person and to feel that someone understands and empathizes with them. While there are great technologies out there, it looks like the ones without a voice will always be missing a key component of customer service.

Heyoya is a game-changing comments and reviews platform that brings voice to e-publishers and e-stores, improving sales and user engagement by allowing readers to express themselves beyond the medium of text. Heyoya’s new Receiver plan allows for quick and easy below-the-fold monetization. Heyoya is a game changer for websites and is proven to increase brand affinity and the quality of user-generated content.

E-commerce is without a doubt an inseparable part of our lives, and concepts we use to think were impossible are quickly becoming a reality. The past year has given us some new trends in the world of e-commerce that are still growing strong. Here are a few of the big trends from last that continue to be relevant this year.

Mobile e-commerce is the future

Research shows that 51% of Americans prefer to shop online rather than in stores. Assuming this percentage will keep growing in the near future, retailers will need to fully embrace digital commerce if they want to survive. While digital commerce is growing, mobile commerce is expanding particularly fast. More and more shops and apps are making shopping available via smartphones and they are doing it by providing accessibility, a user-friendly process and making sure there is the least amount of friction during the shopping process, meaning that the user should have to click as few buttons as possible from point A of choosing the product to point B, the payment. Using m-commerce is quickly becoming a necessity, not a recommendation. Live chat support is utilized by many and when done effectively can help bring customers back, as it offers an immediate point of connection with the user and with it a solution. This support trend is likely to dominate the upcoming years as well.

Personalized shopping is already the norm but at times is not 100% accurate. How many times have you looked at a certain product and then had it show up on several different sites you visited long after you’ve lost interest? Retargeting can be an effective tool in this case and even necessary but the problem is that it doesn’t take context into account. So instead of just offering a personalized experience, sites are now offering a contextualized experience so that consumers are seeing more relevant content than ever before. Contextualization is all about making sure the right experience is given to the right user at the right time on the right device.

Real-Time Analytics

The main issue for most e-commerce businesses is to try and proactively lessen cart abandonment. And while there are several reasons why it happens, such as unexpected shipping costs or a confusing checkout, there was no way to deal with these situations in real time, until 2016. Real-time analytics is a real game changer, allowing businesses the opportunity to provide assistance to their customer before it’s too late. Identifying a problem at checkout and reaching out to the customer before she leaves the site will ultimately increase conversation rates dramatically.

Trusting in Voice

Another major change in e-commerce is the content provided to the consumer. Optimizing product description and having quality photos is no longer enough. Last year we say branded video content as well as voice reviews entering the market, which allow brands to build greater levels of trust with their customers. Video and voice can boost a site’s SEO while increasing conversation rates and allowing shoppers to consume more in less time. It’s not easy to find the perfect fit while shopping online and an enormous 92% of e-commerce customers users read online reviews before a purchase because uncertainty is still a huge obstacle for online purchasing. This means, the more information there is available about the product, whether pictures, descriptions, video or reviews, the more likely they will be to buy online. Companies need to be smart and gain people’s trust without overloading them with information. Voice reviews can do just that while remaining personal and true to the buyers own voice and opinion.

Heyoya is a game-changing comments and reviews platform that brings voice to e-publishers and e-stores, improving sales and user engagement by allowing readers to express themselves beyond the medium of text. Heyoya’s new Receiver plan allows for quick and easy below-the-fold monetization. Heyoya is a game changer for websites and is proven to increase brand affinity and the quality of user-generated content.

In a world where technology is constantly evolving, the web is a necessity in our daily lives. While we take our ability to quickly scan through sites for granted, the layout of content and unclear labeling are some of the biggest barriers for the visually impaired. Many apps and features have already been created in order to help the blind enjoy the benefits of the physical and online world but there is still more work to be done.

As of now, there are special phones that have been created specifically for the blind, such as Ray, and several apps that can be used through smartphones. Leading companies such as Apple are joining the efforts and constantly trying to bring more options to the market including the Apple Watch which can read your messages aloud via Voice Over, allowing the user to navigate without needing to see the screen, and the Taptic Time option which allows for distinct taps to play out so that the blind can feel the time.

Some of the better-known apps are the navigation apps (like Ariadne GPS), which help the blind explore the city beyond their comfort zone while keeping them safe, by signaling crossing a street with a vibration and announcing the stops on a bus or train. Apps have been developed in order to allow the blind to virtually see color (Color ID Free), money (LookTel Money Reader) and so much more. As new apps are introduced, the most helpful tool till today is still a program known as text-to-speech or a screen reader. These programs help the blind by using voice to read aloud the website’s content, as well as e-mails, tweets, weather and Facebook feeds.

Even though the element of voice is still the most helpful one regarding text, there is yet to be an app or computer program that is able to describe pictures properly. Facebook tried to help out by introducing an image recognition feature but this didn’t work out as well as they’d hoped, since even though Facebook may recognize the friends who are tagged in the picture it cannot describe the rest of the elements accurately.

Crossing Barriers with Voice

This problem becomes a more serious issue when it comes to shopping online, as this is when the ability to describe a product correctly is most important. While the text-to-speech program tries to describe the site elements as best it can, when it comes to pictures the situation can quickly become a frustrating one for the visually impaired. For most of us, shopping online saves us a lot of energy as it’s done from the comfort of our home but if the website is not made clear enough to navigate through and the screen reader is not capable of describing the product properly, the advantage of online shopping is lost for the blind.

Besides the important element of seeing the product, another way to ensure we make a good buy is by reading the reviews. Research has even shown that as many as 88% of users trust online reviews as much as they would personal ones. Through voice reviews, the blind will easily be able to listen to them and receive a clearer and more accurate description of the product, and just like every shopper, be able to make a calculated decision on whether to buy the product or not. The text-to-speech limits will be less of a barrier and voice will once again provide a more positive experience as visually impaired consumers enjoy the convenience of shopping online.

Heyoya is a game-changing comments and reviews platform that brings voice to e-publishers and e-stores, improving sales and user engagement by allowing readers to express themselves beyond the medium of text. Heyoya’s new Receiver plan allows for quick and easy below-the-fold monetization. Heyoya is a game changer for websites and is proven to increase brand affinity and the quality of user-generated content.

Customer reviews are more important than ever before. We have seen repeatedly how reviews can singlehandedly make or break a business. And the number of consumers who read and trust online reviews is growing. This is largely down to trust. Customers trust other customers a lot more than they trust retailers and certainly much more than ordinary advertising channels. According to statistics, 88% of customers trust online reviews as much as personal ones, and 90% read online reviews before visiting a business. These numbers are likely to grow even further next year. Essentially, reviews have become the number one way to sell products and services online.

Source: pixabay.com

Raising search visibility

Apart from the trust issue, which is of course essential, reviews raise your search profile. The more people reviewing products on your online store, the better. Every new review increases the unique content on your site, which improves your ranking and ultimately helps drive more traffic to your online store. Google’s algorithm favors high-quality unique content, and leveraging your customer’s thoughts and opinions is the best and most efficient way to produce a lot of this content quickly and at a low cost. As Google’s SEO algorithms continue to grow and gain sophistication they seem to place more and more weight on reviews.

It’s all about authenticity

So with so much hinging on reviews, businesses are often tempted to fake them. It’s not so hard to create a fake IP address and put out some good content that looks just like real reviews. But beware; too many excellent reviews make customers suspicious. More than anything they are basing their opinions on trust and nothing is so good that it doesn’t have criticism. A few bad reviews make your online store seem authentic and also provide opportunities for improvement. Ultimately, consumers want the “real” reviews, and this means the good the bad and the ugly.

Reviews are digital word of mouth

Word of mouth is an essential way for businesses to grow and gain customers. Even in our digital world, face-to-face word of mouth remains a strong channel of advertising. However, it is fairly unpredictable and therefore difficult to fully plan or leverage. What’s interest to note is that online reviews are essentially the digital aspect of word of mouth marketing. They have taken something personal and translated it into online mediums that are accessible by much greater numbers than face-to-face interactions.

Bringing back voice

While digital mediums are fast and simple to use, they often lose the personal element of word of mouth. However, using different mediums can help bring the personal connection back to what has largely been an anonymous and text-based world of reviewing. With new technologies and platforms such as voice and video, online reviews are taking a step forward. It is hard to ascertain credibility when all you can see is a written comment, but when a tone of voice is brought back into the equation it is much easier to tell if a review is legitimate. For this reason, voice reviews are much better at generating trust and ultimately much better at increasing conversions.

Heyoya is a game-changing comments and reviews platform that brings voice to e-publishers and e-stores, improving sales and user engagement by allowing readers to express themselves beyond the medium of text. Heyoya’s new Receiver plan allows for quick and easy below-the-fold monetization. Heyoya is a game changer for websites and is proven to increase brand affinity and the quality of user-generated content.

Shopping cart abandonment is a huge problem for retailers, and especially for digital retailers. According to recent research from the first quarter of 2016, an enormous 74.3% of digital carts are abandoned worldwide. In fact, shopping cart abandonment is one of the biggest challenges in the world of online stores. There are many reasons why it happens and lots of ways to potentially reduce the number, but there is no miracle solution. To find the right way to reduce shopping cart abandonment in your store, you need to understand as much as possible about your customers’ behavior. While you are doing that, here are a few tips that might help you out.

Sources: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:26220022.jpg

Why are people abandoning their carts?

There are many many reasons why carts are abandoned. Sometimes there are good reasons for abandonment, for example: the product was too expensive, there were unexpected shipping costs, or shipping just takes too long, etc. Often shipping costs and timing are only revealed at a very late stage in the progress, meaning many customers choose to abandon their purchase at the very last moment. These reasons seem relatively obvious and straightforward, but there are some interesting stats that show trends beyond the obvious ones. For example, it turns out most abandonments happen on Tuesday and fewest happen on Saturday.

Abandonment is an opportunity

Business is all about transforming challenges into opportunities and this is another instance where a problem can be leveraged. Shopping cart abandonment seems bad, but think of it another way; over $4 trillion dollars of merchandise is likely to be abandoned every year, and overall shopping cart abandonment rates are increasing year by year, but BI Intelligence believes up to 63% of this amount can be salvaged by savvy online retailers.

Customers come back

Not all abandonment means goodbye forever. Often customers aren’t ready to complete a sale, so they abandon it with the intention of coming back later. But there are a few problems here. First of all, many customers are simply browsing with no real intention of completing a purchase. It takes the right product, website and checkout process to convince them to buy, and sadly the stars don’t always align. It is therefore important to identify the ones who intend to come back (if possible). It’s also crucial to remind them to do so. With a hugely busy schedule, a lot of potential customers may simply forget about the great products they were planning on buying. Finding the right omnichannel remarketing response for these kinds of customers means bringing them back to your store and completing a sale.

Make your site amazing

Every element of your site is part of the story that tells your customer to stay put and buy or come back and complete a purchase. This means every part of it must be user-friendly. Key areas to watch are minimizing loading times, simplifying the checkout process and above all else, building trust by being transparent about what you do. There is no point hiding shipping times and rates – be up front about them and they won’t scare customers off later on in the process. And while you know your products are awesome, saying that isn’t enough. Hearing other customers sing your praises is a much more persuasive way to show the quality of your products or services. This means utilizing online reviews and encouraging your customers to leave positive feedback. Every customer who write a review, or even better – recording one, encourages all your other site visitors to complete their purchase.

Heyoya is a game-changing comments and reviews platform that brings voice to e-publishers and e-stores, improving sales and user engagement by allowing readers to express themselves beyond the medium of text. Heyoya’s new Receiver plan allows for quick and easy below-the-fold monetization. Heyoya is a game changer for websites and is proven to increase brand affinity and the quality of user-generated content.